Lucinda Wiley

When people talk about neurodevelopmental conditions, the conversation almost always goes in the same direction: speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, sensory needs, behaviour strategies, waiting lists, assessments. All important. All valid. But there’s a whole part of the picture that barely gets mentioned even though it affects almost every neurodivergent person I’ve ever met, including myself. Mental health. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a “crisis” way. But in the quiet,...

There’s a quiet truth about social connection that rarely gets said out loud: people don’t bond because they’re good at socialising. They bond because something meaningful pulls them toward each other. For neurodivergent people, that “something” is often a shared interest and it’s far more powerful than most people realise. The hidden reason shared interests work Shared interests reduce the cognitive load of socialising. They give the brain a structure, a rhythm, a direction. Suddenly, the...

Most people think masking in public is just “acting normal”. But masking isn’t a costume, it’s labour. It’s scanning faces, rehearsing responses, softening enthusiasm, tightening posture, hiding overwhelm, and hoping no one notices the effort. I know this, because I went through it as well. What surprises many people is this: Masking doesn’t just hide who someone is, it hides what they need. The moment people realise the difference Something interesting happens when a neurodivergent person...